Jack Wood of local club Ilkley Harriers took the Jack Bloor Men’s Senior Race title for a third consecutive year on Ilkley Moor.

He tfnished the classic 8.4 km navigational fell race which was established in 1985 to commemorate the life of an acclaimed Yorkshire sportsman, in 38 minutes 57 seconds, shaving an impressive 29 seconds off his previous winning time.

After ten years the elusive course record of 38 minutes 4 seconds set by Greg Hull still stands. Second place went to Pudsey & Bramley runner Graham Pearce with Robert Little of Dark Peak Fell Runners in 3rd place.

First MV40 and sixth overall was Adam Osborne of Leeds City AC. Running for Ilkley Harriers, Ralph Tench took the MV50 title.

In an impressive time of 48:19 first MV60 was Ben Grant of Harrogate Harriers. Finishing just inside the hour was first MV70 Dave Tait of Dark Peak Fell Runners.

Representing Ilkley Harriers, winner of the men’s U23 Arthur Dolphin Trophy and 10th overall was local lad Jack Cummings of Langbar. Jack finished in 42:13 improving on his previous time by a very impressive 2 minutes 19 seconds.

Young talent was also reflected in the women’s race where under-23s claimed all four top positions.

Running for Ilkley Harriers, Lucy Haines put in a very strong performance to win the overall Jack Bloor Women’s Senior Race title and the Pat Bloor Women’s U23 trophy in a time of 48:20.

Club-mate Jemima Elgood took second place 37 seconds later. Last year’s winner, Sarah Hodgson and Annabel Mason came 3rd and 4th respectively for Leeds University.

Carol Morgan of Nidd Valley again retained the Mike Rose Bowl for first veteran woman over-40. Sally Houghton took the WV50 title for Ripon Runners whilst first WV60 was Sue Morley of Knaresborough Striders.

Senior prize-winners receive one of the coveted Jack Bloor Small Trophies. Hand-crafted by James Fonquernie of Leeds, these glazed clay figures portray a different rock carving found on Ilkley Moor. The 2017 Small Trophy shows the Nine Planets Rock.

Throughout the rest of the 228-strong field individual runners sought to improve on their personal best, battled with rivals or simply enjoyed the challenge and atmosphere of the race.

With three runners to count, Pudsey & Bramley took first place in the men’s team competition with Ilkley Harriers second and Wharfedale Harriers third.

In the women’s category, the leading Ilkley Harriers team of Lucy, Jemima and Sarah Edwards took first place with Leeds University second and Harrogate Harriers third.

Senior race sponsor, the Flying Duck Pub is home to the Wharfedale Brewery. A bottle of Wharfedale beer was presented to class and team winners while all runners were given a Flying Duck voucher.

Loyal sponsor and supporter of the Jack Bloor races and the Memorial Fund, Terry Lonergan of Complete Runner kindly provided the race numbers.

In addition to his own sporting accomplishments, Jack Bloor was renowned for encouraging young people to engage in outdoor sport.

Earlier in the evening, junior runners tackled courses of half a mile, one mile or 1.5 miles in one of five age-based classes (U9, U11, U13, U15, U19). Many were there simply to enjoy the occasion with several trying their first fell race.

More experienced runners strived for a podium position giving rise to some very close and exciting contests in the last metres of the run-in. Hugo Bishop of Wharfedale Harriers won the U9 race in just 4 minutes 5 seconds closely followed by Ilkley Harriers’ William Boyle three seconds later.

First girl was Bethan Buckley running for Keighley & Craven. Only two seconds separated first and second U11 girl with Maisey Bellwood of Keighley & Craven just pipping Katie Buckley to second place.

Ilkley Harriers took all podium positions in the boys’ U11 race with Jonathan Archer in first place four seconds ahead of club-mate Seth Toye.

Charlotte Rawstron of Otley AC won the U13 Girl’s race whilst Henry Cesar de Sa of Skyrac used a tight four second lead to win the race overall.

Jack Villiers of Barlick Fell Runners won the U15 race while Ilkley Harriers’ Bernadette Raven and Poppy Anderson led the U15 girls as they finished second and third overall.

Junior numbers were down this year with all U19 runners assured of a podium position. Emily Elmes won for Ilkley Harriers whilst club-mates Emily Crossley and Simone Rigby took second and third for Settle Harriers.

The Jack Bloor Junior Races are sponsored by the popular community café, Outside The Box. Every junior runner was rewarded with a café voucher.

The top three boys and girls in each category were presented with certificates together with elaborate handcrafted cookie-medals, designed, baked, decorated and presented by the team at Outside The Box Café.

All monies raised from the annual races go to the Jack Bloor Fund that for 32 years has helped support young people to develop physical and technical skills in any recognised outdoor sport.

During the last year the Fund made seventeen grants. Activities included orienteering, be it international competition or technical training, developing ski-mountaineering skills, undertaking the RYA Senior Instructor course and pre-season warm weather training for athletics.

Applicants must be under-26, Yorkshire-based and a member of either a Yorkshire sports club or a national sport governing body. Applications are welcome at any time. Further details can be found at www.jackbloor.co.uk